Mercy: Delivers A Decently Entertaining Trainwreck

The long and storied history of January film releases is no mystery at this point. For better or worse, the month, presenting very little in the way of risk for studios. it is often either a dumping ground for less than desirable releases, or a a chance to take big swings. When it comes to Mercy, the film is a little bit column A, and a little bit column B (but the actual distribution is debatable). The  latest entry in the screenlife genre, this crime drama, while incredibly dumb, delivers some decent entertainment, while also exposes many of the genre’s flaws. Marketed as a showdown between Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson, in reality, the film was not quite that. Clearly not on screen together during their scenes, seemingly shooting their parts separately, their dynamic was off. Resting so heavily on that dynamic, that impact (or lack there of) could be felt throughout. Better separate than together (sort of), the premise ultimately gets old fast. Taking place in the near future, its attempts at commentary are laughable at best, saying so much without saying anything at all, foreshadowing a world that is too ridiculous to ever be possible. Merely an outrageous snowball increasing in outrageousness, the commitment to the bit is commendable. However, its entertainment value comes in spite of the film’s flaws, for reasons that are not so positive, best with the willingness to turn one’s brain off for 100+ minutes.

As mentioned, taking place in a near future Los Angles, detective Chris Raven (Pratt) found himself on trial for the murder of his wife Nicole (Annabelle Wallis). Faced with the AI justice system he once championed known as ‘Mercy,’ that system would not preside over the city’s justice system as judge, jury, and executioner. Born out of a now crime-ridden city, the ‘Mercy’ AI, at least on paper, proved to be effective as a deterrent as it helped bring the crime rate down. Nevertheless, Raven must now prove his innocence to the AI and Judge Maddox (Ferguson) in only 90 minutes, before Maddox determined his fate. The squalid conditions of the city act as window dressing and are essentially irrelevant to a story that is largely Raven vs. Maddox. With the odds and the evidence appearing to be stacked against him, half the battle was just coming to terms with his position. Driven by emotion, this was perhaps not the best place to be operating from, as conversing with an AI designed to have none was a challenge. Maddox, employing an analytical, fact-based approach, it would have little understanding of the grey area that lived in between.

Focused on creating reasonable doubt, Raven’s personal investigation, using the flurry of evidence available to him, thanks to a contrived cloud-based system and his partner ‘Jaq’ (Reis), he was determined to find another suspect. Meanwhile, being the public face of the ‘Mercy’ system, his trial opened him up to added scrutiny, as he almost instantaneously lost in the court of public opinion. Chasing leads and ignoring the true heart of the case, his clouded judgement left him even more frustrated with the lack of progress in proving his innocence. With Maddox his side, assisting him as much as her directive would allow, it was the cooler head in the courtroom. In that sense, the best part of the film was the feeling out process between Raven and Maddox, as they learned to try and understand each other. However, as the clock kept ticking and his guilt probability percentage never went down, there was little tension to be had. Be it the writing, directing, or performance, the film fails to communicate that sense of urgency.

It would not be until Raven pivoted and began to try and solve his wife’s murder that Mercy truly got going. Facing his own demons, allowing for moments of introspection, much of the emotion that previously clouded his judgement dissipated. Going down that path, once the pieces started to come together, despite the twists and turns the film throws at audiences, they are left waiting until Maddox caught up. Because there has to be more, the level of outrageousness of the plot is at an all-time high as it goes from a man up against the wall and having to prove his innocence, to having to save the day, as the first two acts are simply a long-winded way to set up what it really wanted to do all along. There is chaos, there is destruction, but there is still no tension to be had.

On the technical side, the film’s respective screenlife elements are decent enough, with much of the visual effects being saved for the climax. While the screenlife format did not do Pratt and Ferguson any favors, in putting a distance between the two that hurt their performances, especially the former. That being said, though the script did not do them any favors either, the commitment of the cast to the silly dialog is, if anything, commendable. In the end, it all amounts to just enough to get by.

Devoid of emotion, tension, or stakes, Mercy delivers a decent package whose entertainment value comes at the expense of its many flaws.

still courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.